It trains us to want and expect it at certain times (like how a dog goes and sits by his dish at dinnertime).

Are you happy? Numbing any emotions? Especially look at emotions that were considered "bad" when you were a kid.

If you want to change it, do that. Is there a collection or hobby you could start to fill your time & get your hit from that instead? A project you can work on in increments for small boosts?

+1 for cold turkey. I used to have an awful sweet tooth, and in my mid 20s gave up anything remotely sweet (including dessert, syrup on pancakes, etc) for three months. I never craved candy again after that. Fast forward 20 years to when I quit drinking and started eating candy to distract myself. Now I have a real candy addiction again. I don’t eat it daily, but once I have a piece I want all the pieces. I don’t think it’s impacting my weight, but my stomach feels horrible after all that sugar. I’m planning to go cold turkey again soon since I know how well it works for me.

Short and fat NP here who has lost about 39 pounds this year while struggling against binge eating tendencies and strong cravings:

I get the sense from your post that you are a generally healthy person who has identified one habit (eating lots of candy) that you are disturbed by because it doesn't fit your otherwise health-conscious habits & lifestyle.

You asked why you do the thing. That's a great question and in my experience starting by identifying why a specific food habit exists is exactly the right thing to do if you're considering/attempting eliminating the habit.

To answer this question, I suggest making yourself keep a food journal. Either use your phone, or carry a small notebook in your pocket, or put a pad of paper right next to the candy (if you do this one make absolutely sure you round up ALL the candy in the house and keep it in only the one location). Every time you go to get a piece of candy, as soon as you have started eating it write down what was happening right before, whether you feel hungry, whether you feel thirsty, any emotions you're feeling that you can easily identify, and anything else that feels relevant. Then eat the candy. At this point don't focus yet on denying or resisting any time you naturally find yourself reaching for candy, just do your documenting.

Do it for about two weeks.

Then pick a time when you have a free hour or so and sit down with your two weeks of candy logging, and see if you can identify any patterns in when or why you reach for candy.

That will answer or at least suggest answers to "why" you eat what you think is excessive candy. It might point to a medical issue worth bringing up with your doctor. It might point to use of candy to address emotional needs. It might point to a simple habit such as boredom --> snack on candy.

Now you have come to a decision point. Is your candy habit something that you *personally* feel is worth getting rid of/reducing? If not, okay, you got the information you needed in order to answer a question you were wondering about and your journey ends here; there's nothing to change. If so, why? Write down your reasons, reflect a little, and set yourself a goal that you want to reach.

If you determine a goal to reduce or eliminate your candy habit, make sure you understand your motivation. Next, make sure you understand your problem. Go back and look at the trends you identified with your candy log.

Do you get candy when hungry? Make sure your food is satisfying and frequent enough to satisfy you --> less desire for candy --> less candy.

Do you reach for candy when thirsty? Do two things: try to hydrate more, AND reach out to your doctor to discuss. Sometimes (not always, don't panic!) wanting sugar when thirsty might suggest a medical issue. If your doctor is not concerned, hydrating more should reduce your thirst --> less candy.

Do you reach for candy in response to feeling emotional? Try finding additional ways to support your emotional needs. Consider whether part of this support should include seeking out some mental health care. Either way, better/more ways of supporting yourself through strong emotions might lead to less emotional desire for candy.


Assess your personality and how you typically develop or modify your habits. Some people can take a gradual approach successfully. Other people (like me) find that way to be practically torture & a recipe for failure, and those people will likely have to go cold turkey. Cold turkey in this case is either get the candy out of the house and commit to yourself not to buy it or accept it from anyone OR if you live with other people whose candy it is get them to hide or guard it from you.

I have only experienced the cold turkey route, because that is what I needed. If my tempting foods are around me, I will binge. I know that, and right now I have not built my "self control muscle" enough to change that fact. So I accept it and work with it. My adjustment to cold turkey quitting junk food was awful cravings for a month. It was genuinely horrible, but it did work.

In your case OP I do not think you will have such long or severe cravings even if you do go cold turkey because 1) your overall dietary habits sound much healthier than mine were and 2) I quit most forms of junk food at once while you would be focusing on only candy which is a less extreme change.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

I write out my general food plan in the morning and check off my intake as I go (adding any differences in my day vs what I planned). So I never plan to eat candy, but I write it down when I do. Lately, I have been wanting to not eat candy, so I write in big letters NO CANDY TODAY. I'll treat myself to a couple of Tru Fru cherries for dessert. The first few days were tough. It gets a little easier with time, and sometimes I have a piece of candy, but not to the extent I tell myself that I *need* it every day.

I have a sweet tooth as well and have just decided to allow it in moderation. So a piece or two of good chocolate and that's it. I eat very healthy foods - lots of vegetables, almost no red meat, relatively low carb, etc. so I don't see a need to cut out candy entirely.

As a formerly obese person (whose experience was the same as the above posters and had to stay away completely to eliminate cravings), I don’t see why in the world you’d WANT to quit if it isn’t affecting your weight/health/teeth. Is it just your mental health it effects, like you think it is inherently bad to eat candy? If so, let that sh*t go. If it makes you feel bad, then I guess I can understand not wanting to do it. But lucky I guess.

take it all out of the house now throw it out.

Anonymous wrote:You have to go cold turkey and suffer through cravings for a few days but then it will go away. If you eat it, the cycle starts all over again. You have to not eat it. For me, eating it one day sets up cravings for days.

This. Or stick to dark chocolate while saying no to the other candies. And not dark chocolate covered caramel. Dark chocolate covered almonds, perhaps, but no other sugary sweet pairing.

Also, before you pop "just one" little piece of candy into your mouth, stop and think about it. Talk to yourself: how am i going to feel after eating this? Am I honestly going to stop after just this one? Do I REALLY want it right now? Will eating it just make me want more? Remember what happened last time....ended up eating 2more and then later that night went ahead and had another treat because I've already "blown" it for today anyway and I'll stop tomorrow? How will I feel if I don't eat it?

What helped me was replacing it with other small popable snacks. Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds and cornichons.

Anonymous wrote:You have to go cold turkey and suffer through cravings for a few days but then it will go away. If you eat it, the cycle starts all over again. You have to not eat it. For me, eating it one day sets up cravings for days.

+1 more candy I eat, the more I want. When I give up candy to lose weight, I don't crave it after about 5 days.

I dont know what's going on ive had such a horrible sweet tooth lately it's next level. My period should be coming but this is really strange!

Anonymous wrote:You have to go cold turkey and suffer through cravings for a few days but then it will go away. If you eat it, the cycle starts all over again. You have to not eat it. For me, eating it one day sets up cravings for days.

+1. I just had to deal with this last week, post Halloween. It wasn’t fun but 3 days and the cravings were gone.

You have to go cold turkey and suffer through cravings for a few days but then it will go away. If you eat it, the cycle starts all over again. You have to not eat it. For me, eating it one day sets up cravings for days.

If it doesn't impact your weight and your teeth are fine and you eat a generally healthy diet, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I am mid-40s, healthy diet, exercise daily. Healthy weight (120 lb, 5'5").

But I loooooove candy. Chocolate, hard candy, gummy candy, whatever. Obviously I have a sweet tooth. But with actual desserts I find it no problem to exercise self-control -- I can eat a small bite when f something after a meal and it satisfies my sugar cravings.

We have a bunch of candy in the house from Halloween and I can't resist it. When I go to TJs I wind up buying candy when I go through the check out aisle. I'll get candy when I stop for gas or go to one of those discount stores with candy at checkout (TJ Maxx, etc). With the holidays approaching I know candy will be everywhere.

Even though it doesn't impact my weight, I know it's crap and wish I didn't eat it. This morning I had twizzlers and sour patch kids. Most adults don't do this, do they? How can I kick my candy habit? Why to I crave it so much?

FYI my teeth are fine-- I floss and water pik daily and never get cavities.